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Ah yes, it looks like Deuteronomy reiterates some of the rules that were originally laid out in Leviticus. This is the book that talks about everything that is unclean, and how people purify themselves. It is also very largely concerned with the intricacies of how and when to sacrifice animals.

Again, as has been pointed out, the real issues here are not head scarves or food. I'm asking what the logical system is that people use for saying whether Biblical laws still apply or not, and how you know whether a rule is a societal custom or a command from God not to sin. And at the bottom of that is the issue of interpretation. In my opinion, it is impossible for anyone here to demonstrate that they or their denomination don't interpret what the Bible says to some degree. If this were not the case, presumably we'd still be publicly stoning people to death.

There may well be reasons for following or not following the particular Biblical rules that each denomination adheres to.

Part of the understanding what is involved here results from Jesus' sermon on the mount. In Matthew 5:17-18, He says:
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17Do not think that I have come to do away with or undo the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to do away with or undo but to complete and fulfill them.
18For truly I tell you, until the sky and earth pass away and perish, not one smallest letter nor one little hook [identifying certain Hebrew letters] will pass from the Law until all things [it foreshadows] are accomplished.
19Whoever then breaks or does away with or relaxes one of the least [important] of these commandments and teaches men so shall be called least [important] in the kingdom of heaven, but he who practices them and teaches others to do so shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
20For I tell you, unless your righteousness (your uprightness and your right standing with God) is more than that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Now this seems to indicate that until the earth is gone, the Law is to be followed strictly, however there are a couple of conditions to consider and those hinge on the phrases "to complete and fulfill" and "until all things [it foreshadows] are accomplished". In the Old Testament there are things that are foreshadowed. God's admonition to the snake (which represents Satan) in Genesis 3:15:
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15And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her Offspring; He will bruise and tread your head underfoot, and you will lie in wait and bruise His heel.
Note that offspring is capitalized for emphasis in this translation (Ancient Hebrew had no case change), that's because it is now recognized that the offspring of the woman (not the man) is Jesus.
In John 19, at Jesus' death on the cross:
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30When he had received the drink, Jesus said, "It is finished." With that, he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.

In Romans, Paul talks a lot about the Law and being under the Law. He makes a case for those that are "under the Law" being "condemned by the Law" This culminates in the statement from Romans 6:14:
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14For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.

In that verse along with Jesus' utterance of "it is finished", are the evidences that followers of Jesus are not completely beholden to the law.

However......
In the very next verses, Paul says:
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15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! 16Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?

So, sin has not been eliminated. The question that remains is how do we figure out what is a sin and what is not.
One clue is wrapped up in Jesus' declaration to "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"
Additionally Jesus said to Love God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength; And to Love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus said all the laws and commandments are within those 2 statements.

Therefore, part of the determination of what is a law to obey, is whether following that law will allow you to stay within the bounds of those three commandments by Jesus.

I doubt that stoning your child to death at the city gates would qualify as loving your neighbor as yourself nor doing unto others as you would want done to you.

Last edited by LinearAq; 06/12/08 05:07 PM.
A faith that connot survive collision with the truth is not worth many regrets. -- Arthur C. Clarke